OT Corner Extra: Making and Using Weighted Pencils

Weighted pencils can be beneficial for students who do not press hard enough when writing or for students who have poor body awareness and need additional proprioceptive input to increase awareness of their hand.

If you’ve ever taken a look at a therapy catalog, then you are aware of how expensive simple items like a weighted pencil can be. Here’s an easy and inexpensive way to make a weighted pencil or crayon on your own.

What you need:

a pencil (or crayon)

two rubber bands

some hex nuts

Just wrap the rubber band around the pencil to prevent the hex nuts from falling off. Then place the hex nuts on the pencil to create the desired weight. Wrap another rubber band around the pencil at the end of the hex nuts. To find the correct size of hex nut, I recommend just taking a pencil to a home improvement store and to see which size fits best.

Now you have a weighted pencil!

You can also use this method to create weighted crayons or markers

Now I would like to pose this question to all of the occupational therapists out there, why DO we use weighted pencils (or crayons or makers)? And if we believe this strategy is effective (which we must, or we wouldn’t be doing it), then why aren’t we challenging our beliefs by creating a hypothesis, collecting data, and documenting our results?

Thank you to 101 OT Ideas for asking about research relating to the use of weighted pencils. I first did a web search using Google scholar and all I located was an article describing a Handwriting Club that mentioned the use of a weighted pencil holder. I’m not sure what a weighted pencil holder is, and the article didn’t look at the outcome of specific sensory strategies. However, it is an interesting read if you’re considering starting a handwriting club or handwriting camp. Click here to check it out.

I then did a ProQuest search and didn’t find anything related to weighted pencils, although I did find some articles about the use of multisensory strategies for handwriting. This included strategies such as writing on a chalkboard, writing letters in sand, using whole arm movements for “sky writing”, and tracing letters on various textures. The studies did not include the use of weighted pencils. I found one article from 2000 that looked at the use of weights in therapy:

In this study, pediatric occupational therapists were interviewed regarding the treatment approaches used for children with handwriting difficulties. In addition, the OTs interviewed were asked about their use of weights in therapy. Sixty-eight percent reported that they use weights, for reasons such as poor sensory awareness. This article went on to say that there is little research to support the use of weights, yet many therapists are doing so. It’s almost 12 years later, and there is still little to no research to support the use of weights, yet many therapists, myself included, are doing so.

[Side note: ProQuest is a full-text online database provided as a benefit for members of the Occupational Therapy Association of California. If you don’t live in California, you should lobby for your state association to offer a similar benefit!]

I also did a search on AJOT (American Journal of Occupational Therapy). Again, I didn’t find anything specific to weighted pencils, but I did find the following articles of interest.

This document by AOTA discusses the use of sensory integration theory in school-based practice. While weighted pencils are not specifically addressed or researched, the use of a weighted pencil is listed as an intervention in a case study presented in this document. If the use of a weighted pencil is listed in a document by AOTA, then this is clearly an intervention that is used frequently and its effectiveness should be further studied.

This study used a questionnaire to identify the types of multisensory strategies that occupational therapists are using for handwriting remediation. No research was completed on the effectiveness of any of the strategies. The use of wrist weights was identified as a strategy used for proprioceptive input.

It seems clear to me that the use of weighted pencils is an intervention that occupational therapists frequently use, but with little research to support the intervention. I’m not exactly sure how to go about collecting data on something like the use of a weighted pencil. I’m currently only using this strategy with one student, and I’m not using the weighted pencil in isolation of other interventions. If this student improves, is it because of the weighted pencil, the visual motor activities, the daily handwriting practice in his classroom (which research has found to be a very effective intervention), or some other factor?

I am highly interested in diving into this topic further and collecting data on the use of weighted writing utensils. If anyone has any thoughts about how to do this, please leave a comment below, or contact me at AbbyPediatricOT [AT] gmail [dot] com.

Featured Guest Columnist: Abby Brayton, MS, OTR/L

Abby Brayton, MS, OTR/L is a pediatric occupational therapist practicing in southern California. She is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and has five years of experience working with children with a diverse range of abilities. Her work experience includes school based practice, early intervention, and feeding therapy. Abby recently began blogging about her experiences as a pediatric occupational therapist at http://abbypediatricot.blogspot.com/. You can reach Abby at [email protected].